tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071Mon, 14 May 2018 08:54:08 +0000crocodilescrocodilesaltwater crocodilealligatorsinterviewpodcastcrocodile safetyfreshwater crocodilepygmy crocodileCrocosaurus Covecane toadscrocodile attackcrocodile managementdavid attenboroughdocumentaryfilminggiant crocodilenewssurveystelevisionACESCage of DeathCassiusCroc AttackCrocWatchDiscovery ChannelHDJoe WasilewskiMRSAMalcolm DouglasNT NewsPhotoshopRod KingShark WeekSt AugustineTom Nicholsaccurate headlinesafrican dwarf crocodilealligacinantimicrobialbacteriabiggestblack waterbullo rivercharles darwinchristmascommunicationcommunityconservationconsultancycrocodile birdcrocodilianscrocodillincrocodyliformscrocsdragondrowningeducationegyptian ploverescapeevolutionexhibitionextinct crocodilesextinctionfilmfilm editingfossil crocsgeckogeneticsgrasshopperhobbitjohn thorbjarnarsonjournalismjumpinglacostelargestlife in cold bloodlife saversmediamedia spinmoviemovingmutualismmythsnational geographicnew speciesnorthern territorypalaeontologypaleontologypaul serenopaul the octopuspeptidephilippine crocodilepopulation dynamicspredictionpsychicqueenslandreleaseresearchsafari huntingsciencescience writingshoesskullssmaugsmugglingsnakes on a planesupercroctaxonomytolkientourismtraffic chaostransporttraveltrochiluswhen crocs ate dinosaursworld cup 2010zoosCroc Blog65 million years after the dinosaurs suffered a serious blow, the most successful archosaurs - the crocodilians - are still with us. Whether you regard yourself as a crocophile, a curious bystander, or prey, you owe it to yourself to learn more about the most successful semi-aquatic predators of all time, and perhaps a little about those who work with them.http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)Blogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-771793459730249913Tue, 13 Jun 2017 12:04:00 +00002017-06-13T21:34:50.951+09:30CrocLog Podcast - Week of 15th May 2017 (Episode 20)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s1600/croclog-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s200/croclog-logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Here's the latest episode of the CrocLog Podcast. I say "latest" because this was actually recorded a few weeks ago, but work intervened and I had to leave it until now to finish it off. But better late than never, right? And it's still highly relevant.<br /><br />So we improved the sound quality quite a bit in this episode. It's still not quite perfect, but we're no longer recording off Skype and instead using individual mics. Let's just say that Brandon needs a better one! I'll be composing some new podcast music at some point, unless I can rescue the old theme through technical trickery.<br /><br />In this episode we interview Flavio Morrissiey about his work training crocodiles, and also some upcoming fundraising events for CrocFest. We also talk further about the Queensland culling proposals, discuss some curious crocodile attacks, and catch up on where the CrocBITE database is heading.<br /><br />Links and the podcast below:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>CrocFest events: <a href="https://www.crocfest.org/" target="_blank">https://www.crocfest.org/</a><br /><br />World Croc Day: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WorldCrocDay/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/WorldCrocDay/</a><br /><br /><iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/croclog-ep20" width="500" height="30" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><a href="https://archive.org/details/croclog-ep20">Archive.org version</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/croclog-ep20.mp3">Direct link / Download</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=404790438">iTunes link</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/feed.xml">RSS</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2017/06/croclog-podcast-week-of-15th-may-2017.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-1588151900438044150Mon, 27 Mar 2017 09:26:00 +00002017-03-27T18:56:48.586+09:30CrocLog Podcast - Week of 20th March 2017 (Episode 19)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s1600/croclog-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s200/croclog-logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Are you sitting down? Right, you probably thought it was dead, but here's a new episode of the CrocLog Podcast! Technically it's Episode 19, although we don't refer to it by number (dates seem to make more sense).<br /><br />First off, I'm sorry about the terrible sound quality on this one. Brandon and I both have new laptops since we did the last one, and for some reason whatever magic formula we were using for sound quality has been lost, and it sounds... well, it's listenable, but it's certainly a lot way from ideal. We're looking at a different way of recording the podcast in the future, using high quality recorders which we can then sync up and edit together. We might also need new mics / headsets.<br /><br />We're going to try and get these out a little more often (two years is way too long between episodes) by keeping them shorter. I think that's what we said last time, but maybe it'll work this time. In this episode we briefly catch up on some recent projects, talk about the new (upcoming) CrocBITE improvements, several crocodile attacks, discuss the renewed proposal for culling crocodiles in Queensland, discuss the influence of habitat degradation on crocodile attacks, and talk about fundraising events taking place in Darwin (of all places) later in the year.<br /><br />Links and the podcast below:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>New CrocBITE blog:&nbsp;<a href="http://crocodile-attack.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">http://crocodile-attack.blogspot.com.au/</a><br /><br /><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolhapur/sand-mining-a-trigger-for-croc-attacks/articleshow/57638419.cms?from=mdr" target="_blank">Sand mining a trigger for crocodile attacks</a><br /><br />If you can't make it Croc Corroborree, you can still support Brandon's project: <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/humancrocodile-conflict-in-ntt" target="_blank">Human Crocodile Conflict in NTT (GoFundMe)</a><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="30" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/croclog-ep19" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/croclog-ep19.mp3">Direct link / Download</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=404790438">iTunes link</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/feed.xml">RSS</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2017/03/croclog-podcast-week-of-20th-march-2017.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-7063403169366158157Mon, 09 May 2016 11:38:00 +00002016-05-09T21:08:46.089+09:30When David Attenborough Met Saltwater CrocodilesThe reason I'm a zoologist today is down to three people. Firstly, my mum, who was (and still is) an avid naturalist at heart, and who instilled a sense of appreciation for nature from an early age. Secondly, my biology teacher Mrs Val Richards, who saw exactly where my passion lay and encouraged me towards a degree in zoology where others saw different pathways. If you're still out there Mrs Richards, you rock. Last, but not least, is David Attenborough. He didn't have his knighthood when he inspired me, he didn't need one... he was just that awesome.<br /><br />David turned 90 on Sunday 8 May 2016, and I have to say I wish I'm that switched on, alert and full of passion at that age. Frankly, I'd be satisfied with still being alive at that age. I first encountered David Attenborough on 16 January 1979, when I was not quite eight years old, as the first episode of his landmark natural history television program <i>Life on Earth</i>&nbsp;first aired. I remember being transfixed by what I saw, and I had this over-riding sense of wanting to be like David Attenborough, I wanted to go and see the amazing sights of the natural world that he was seeing, and it opened my eyes to the possibilities of life.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a1pZnA7o-1I/VzB2NbH9UAI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/wzKrjuE2tpch-EzlfWE5YvjQDlG-VttwgCLcB/s1600/David%2BAttenborough%2Bwith%2BBig%2BGecko--2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a1pZnA7o-1I/VzB2NbH9UAI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/wzKrjuE2tpch-EzlfWE5YvjQDlG-VttwgCLcB/s400/David%2BAttenborough%2Bwith%2BBig%2BGecko--2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Attenborough in his trademark blue shirt with<br />freshwater crocodile (lower right), Erin Britton (left)<br />and Adam Britton (middle).</td></tr></tbody></table>In October 2006, a little under 27 years later, my wife Erin and I got to work with David for a whole week. I can only imagine what 7 year old me would have thought of this! Don't they say you should never meet your heroes, and he were about to spend a whole week with ours (Erin, of course, viewed David in a similar light). I had been somewhat instrumental in arranging this, because I was being employed by the BBC Natural History Unit as one of their Scientific Advisers for their new series <i>Life in Cold Blood</i>. Specifically, I was the crocodile expert. This extended to suggesting a whole range of different sequences that could be filmed to illustrate just how amazing crocodiles are. I wanted to make sure we blew the audience away with what crocodiles could do, and of course there were a few sequences that I knew we could achieve here in the Northern Territory with saltwater crocodiles. I realised, of course, that this meant we could perhaps get David himself here to do his infamous "pieces to camera" with crocodiles in the same shot. There was one in particular that I knew we could get, because I'd done it myself several months earlier. The only way to do it properly, though, was to get David to do it himself. To cut a long story short, the series producer felt it would make a great sequence, and trusted us to help them get it. No pressure, then.<br /><br />Several months later, in October 2006, we were there at last. Meeting David Attenborough had Erin and I both rather nervous. What if he didn't get on with us? What if we didn't get on with him? Perhaps he was nothing like the person we imagined? David Attenborough, it turns out, is even more remarkable in real life as he is on the screen. He's not a big fan of hero worship, so we had to rein that in, but he's just a normal, humble, down-to-Earth kinda guy who is incredibly smart and possessed of a razor-sharp wit. We fell in love with him immediately, and he got on with Erin in particular like a house on fire. We spent an amazing week filming crocodiles, almost like something out of a dream, with David standing about 15 m in front of dozens of extremely large and extremely hungry wild saltwater crocodiles, capturing a sequence of them cooperatively hunting in a way that hadn't been shown on television before. That sense of relief, when it all worked, and David nailed his pieces to camera without getting eaten... phew!<br /><br />We did several more sequences with him, although not all of them made the cut. Perhaps the best, which I'm still sad didn't make it on screen, involved a freshwater crocodile. This was actually our crocodile, and it was a simple piece to camera where David was talking about how the crocodiles became dominant freshwater predators after the majority of dinosaur groups disappeared, and this little freshwater crocodile got up on his four legs - precisely on cue - and began walking in front of David. I always imagined the crocodile thinking "Wow, that's David Attenborough! I'd better get this right..." It was awesome, and we have a copy of it somewhere, but it never made the cut for reasons of flow. Such is life in television.<br /><br />When it was time to leave us, David gave Erin an big hug, something she'll never forget. When David gives you a hug, it's genuine, they had such a great time. I was satisfied with a warm handshake. He offered us perhaps the best compliment he could have, that he'd never seen anyone handle crocodiles with as much respect and care as we had. That meant a lot to us. He even wrote us a letter a couple of months later thanking us.<br /><br />We always hoped to work with him again, despite realising just how unlikely this is. At the time of filming <i>Life in Cold Blood </i>he was seriously considering retiring altogether; this was to be his last series. We're glad that he's still chasing his passion. For us, we got to spend a week with this remarkable man who&nbsp;he continues to inspire us to this day.<br /><br />Happy Birthday David.http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2016/05/when-david-attenborough-met-saltwater.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-2997468747073669851Thu, 14 May 2015 12:55:00 +00002015-05-14T22:26:53.072+09:30CrocLog Podcast - Episode 18<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s1600/croclog-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s200/croclog-logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Wait, what? A new episode of the CrocLog Podcast!? Yes, it's true. And just to be confusing, this is Episode 18. What happened to Episodes 16 and 17, you might ask? Well, they exist on my hard drive - almost complete - and they'll be coming soon. It's a long story involving editing taking far too long, and being way too busy, but they're coming.<br /><br />Far too much time was spent on previous episodes editing the audio and making it sound smooth. Well no more, Episode 18 is the entire thing without any editing, other than the opening and closing music tracks. I think it works a lot better, plus here it is now rather than being delayed by six months.<br /><br />The theme in this episode is crocodiles in unusual places. We talk about crocodiles turning up in Martinique and Crete, we discuss two unfortunate examples of crocodiles being shot and blown up respectively (clearly without any respect), we talk about large crocodiles in India, and an extinct crocodile called the Carolina Butcher that may have been bipedal. Brandon summarizes some recent crocodile attacks, and we dissect a crocodile attack video.<br /><br />Links and the podcast below:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>Fake crocodile attack video:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oYViBOWUxo" target="_blank">Bill's Channel: Crocodile attack, real or fake?</a><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="30" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/croclog-ep18" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/croclog-ep18.mp3">Direct link / Download</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=404790438">iTunes link</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/feed.xml">RSS</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2015/05/croclog-podcast-episode-18.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-7498377109129817397Thu, 27 Nov 2014 06:23:00 +00002014-11-27T22:23:07.190+09:30Expanding CrocBITE<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dqp9BElZqws/VHbC13ApubI/AAAAAAAAA5E/hFF3YYbA3NE/s1600/croc%2Bteeth%2Buw.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-dqp9BElZqws%2FVHbC13ApubI%2FAAAAAAAAA5E%2FhFF3YYbA3NE%2Fs1600%2Fcroc%252Bteeth%252Buw.JPG&amp;container=blogger&amp;gadget=a&amp;rewriteMime=image%2F*" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dqp9BElZqws/VHbC13ApubI/AAAAAAAAA5E/hFF3YYbA3NE/s1600/croc%2Bteeth%2Buw.JPG" height="181" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In December 2013 we launched CrocBITE, a database of worldwide crocodile attacks that aims to improve our understanding of human-crocodile conflict. The database is expanding rapidly, with over 2,700 records currently online due to the efforts of Brandon Sideleau in researching crocodile attack data, becoming one of the largest databases on human-wildlife conflict available to the public. CrocBITE is being used by wildlife agencies and researchers around the world to improve species management and help save lives.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The exciting news is that we're now collaborating with Dr Simon Pooley of Imperial College London, who's recently received an <a href="http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/ecosystemsandenvironment/grandchallenges/crosscuttingthemes/dataandanalysiscansave" target="_blank">ESRC Impact Acceleration Award</a> to develop visualisations that will integrate with CrocBITE. Simon is employing Information is Beautiful to come up with innovative ways of presenting these data to help us find patterns. This will be available to all users as an interactive online tool to help interpret the information.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The goal of the project will be to better engage the public, local authorities, health workers and conservation managers to both contribute data and explore ways in which its lessons can be applied to saving lives. We will be better able to deliver these lessons to a wide audience particularly in rural areas where the risk of crocodile attack is highest with the aim of improving awareness and mitigate risk of crocodile attack.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm excited to see what Information is Beautiful can do with these data, and we're hoping to get the updates finished by March 2015, along with some other improvements in usability for the CrocBITE website.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you haven't seen CrocBITE in action, you can check it out at <a href="http://www.crocodile-attack.info/">www.crocodile-attack.info</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The original website was created using a CDU Innovation grant in association with crocodilian research and consulting company Big Gecko. The project is entirely non-profit.</span>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2014/11/expanding-crocbite_27.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-7341494492884379580Thu, 09 Oct 2014 11:40:00 +00002014-10-09T21:10:17.966+09:30Rise from your grave!Well hello there. It's been a while hasn't it, but the Croc Blog has been on something of a hiatus lately. You can put this down squarely to its owner diverting his energies elsewhere, but this is all about to change... for the better.<br /><br />First of all, there are not one, but two CrocLog Podcasts on their way. I know this because one of them has been recorded and is pretty much ready to go. Sadly it's a little bit out of date, but hey - let's call it a history lesson. The second hasn't been done yet, but we do have the interview recorded, so really it's nearly there.<br /><br />Secondly, we'll have a guest blogger appearing soon. I won't say any more at this stage, in case it doesn't happen, but fingers crossed.<br /><br />Thirdly, I'm back in Darwin again after several months of being here and there, so I'm sitting at a desk in the heat and humidity (the fan is on full) and writing reports, papers and other crocodile-related material. Some of this will surely make its way to the blog.<br /><br />And finally, here's a picture of a crocodile, because I don't need an excuse!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xlxz78IqrcE/VDYjOEl-b-I/AAAAAAAAA40/EOc0LvufAFc/s1600/Lindblad%2B28July2014%2B053-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xlxz78IqrcE/VDYjOEl-b-I/AAAAAAAAA40/EOc0LvufAFc/s1600/Lindblad%2B28July2014%2B053-7.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Australian freshwater crocodile (<i>Crocodylus johnstoni</i>) on the Ord River</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br />http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2014/10/rise-from-your-grave.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-1001605063814149823Tue, 25 Mar 2014 06:20:00 +00002014-03-25T15:50:41.471+09:30CrocLog Podcast - Episode 15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s1600/croclog-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s200/croclog-logo.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>Brandon is currently in Belize helping out on a Morelet's crocodile research project, and we'll be recording a new podcast just as soon as he gets back. In the meantime, here is the long-lost Episode 15 of the podcast. This was recorded back in early December 2013, and for a variety of technical reasons was never quite finished. I've finally managed to get the laptop working that contained the audio editing software (humidity kills everything electronic up here), and you can finally listen to it below.<br /><br />It's worth a listen because we have a good chat about human crocodile conflict as we discuss the launch of the CrocBITE database. We also end up talking about rattlesnake tails briefly, but soon get back onto the topic and hand by talking about tool use in crocodilians. Brandon discusses a few interesting crocodile attacks from last year, and we end up wondering where all the decent crocodile documentaries have gone lately.<br /><br />Links to the podcast below:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="30" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/croclog-ep15" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/croclog-ep15.mp3">Direct link / Download</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=404790438">iTunes link</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/feed.xml">RSS</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2014/03/croclog-podcast-episode-15.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-6476758563355013585Sat, 08 Mar 2014 01:31:00 +00002014-03-08T11:01:29.621+09:30Crocodile predators, or crocodiles having a bad week?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.imgur.com/uGkIRgy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/uGkIRgy.jpg" height="237" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is that... a crocodile tail? Photo by Marvin Muller</td></tr></tbody></table>Everyone is aflutter lately with some interesting photos doing the rounds that show crocodiles and alligators having what could be considered a bad day. First there was this <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/snake-eats-crocodile-after-epic-fight-in-queensland-20140303-33xz8.html" target="_blank">great series</a> of photos showing a water python (<i>Liasis fuscus</i>)&nbsp;subduing and eating a freshwater crocodile (<i>Crocodylus johnstoni</i>). The python was estimated to be around 10 feet (approx 3 m) long, and the crocodile between 3 and 6 feet (approx 1 to 2 m) long. It looks to me as though the crocodile was a little over 1 m in length. So it's still a juvenile crocodile, although it would still have been capable of killing the python had it gotten the chance. But pythons work most effectively when they surprise their prey and prevent them from retaliating. Wrappings its coils around the crocodile's body effectively restrained the limbs and the head, and prevented the crocodile from being able to do a thing. Crocodiles can certainly kill pythons easily, and I've seen the results of large pythons torn in two with a quick head flick by the crocodile, so this was a risky attack by the snake but the reward was an enormous meal that would last it for over a month.<div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.imgur.com/wegXZq7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/wegXZq7.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The neck bite of doom for this alligator. Photo by Geoff Walsh</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><div>If that wasn't enough for the croc world, gators (<i>Alligator mississippiensis</i>)&nbsp;had to let the side down again, this time by being <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140306-otter-alligator-florida-predator-photos-wildlife/" target="_blank">killed by an otter</a>&nbsp;(<i>Lontra canadensis</i>). An otter, for shame! But let's not be too hasty. Just because mammals can be quite tasty doesn't mean they can't be deserving of respect. This otter certainly got the better of this alligator, having learned to bite it in exactly the right location to stay clear of those jaws while being able to tire it out. The article above describes alligators quite vividly as "a grenade" which is certainly apt. Like the snake tackling a freshwater crocodile above, the otter was taking quite a risk here. Alligator jaws are serious business, and getting the initial attack wrong could mean an incapacitating injury leading to death. But the otter knows exactly what it's doing, tiring the alligator out while it's frustratingly unable to deploy its explosive bite. Struggling alligators quickly run out of stamina, leaving the otter to snack on gator tail at its leisure while the alligator was still alive. The article above does make one error; the alligator doesn't die of lactic acidosis, that takes a few days assuming that its blood pH falls too low for its metabolism to correct it in time. The otter would have finished its meal long before that, the alligator having succumbed to its injuries due to blood loss.</div><div><br /></div><div>While photos like this are fascinating to see because they reveal behaviour that we so rarely witness, they also give the false impression that it's rare for crocodiles and alligators to be eaten. This is a long way from the truth. Hatchlings serve as a tasty treat for a wide range of animals, including birds, large fish, large amphibians, large insects (even ant colonies), various reptiles, mammals and of course humans. That majestic 5 metre long saltwater crocodile basking on the bank without a care in the world? That animal had to endure a gauntlet of predators and other crocodiles for many years before it grew large enough to feel relatively safe. In a healthy population, less than 1% of the hatchling crocodiles and alligators that emerge from their eggs actually survive their first decade, and that's because the vast majority of them are eaten by predators. It's an r-selected survival strategy; invest in a lot of initially vulnerable offspring in the hope that a few of them make it to breeding age. It might seem cold-hearted to k-selected strategists such as ourselves, but you can't deny it works.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually, these offspring reach a size where they're safe from just about anything except larger members of their own species. However, the two examples above show that there is no second prize for nearly making it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2014/03/crocodile-predators-or-crocodiles.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-7824139708401598387Thu, 13 Feb 2014 04:33:00 +00002014-02-13T14:29:12.856+09:30Can crocodiles really climb trees?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5M8DwwDOrk/UvxG23fE5JI/AAAAAAAAA38/3jm7dsaGb6I/s1600/vanWelsem2009+croc+in+tree+-+edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5M8DwwDOrk/UvxG23fE5JI/AAAAAAAAA38/3jm7dsaGb6I/s1600/vanWelsem2009+croc+in+tree+-+edit.jpg" height="320" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">photo by M. van Welsem / Mabuwaya Foundation<br />Philppine crocodile adult</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Vladimir Dinets, Matt Shirley and I recently published a paper entitled "Climbing behaviour in extant crocodilians". <a href="http://www.herpetologynotes.seh-herpetology.org/Volume7_PDFs/Dinets_HerpetologyNotes_volume7_pages3-7.pdf" target="_blank">Here's a link</a> if you'd like to read it. The resulting news stories have been quite extensive, to say the least! Everyone is fascinated by the idea that crocodiles, those vicious man-eating predators we keep hearing about, could climb trees. Perhaps it means that climbing a tree to escape a crocodile is no longer an option? Perhaps it means that crocodiles will start dropping from the branches onto your head for a surprise dinner date? Perhaps when you see a fallen tree by the river bank, you'll think "Wow, it must have been a heavy crocodile to bring that one down!"<br /><br />Of course I'm just having a bit of fun. None of those possibilities are true, you'll be pleased to hear. Actually, it's been known for a long time that crocodilians (or crocodylians if you want to be pedantic) can climb out of the water onto floating logs and low branches. We didn't publish a paper to point this out, but rather we wanted to explore how widespread this was, and look into the reasons why crocodiles might do this, and even allow us to speculate on how extinct crocodyliforms may have behaved. After all, if you look at a modern crocodile and think there's no way it could climb a tree, you're not going to assume a fossil crocodyliform with a similar morphology is going to be able to do it either. Well, here's a cool thing, some modern species can climb trees, and they can do so remarkably well, often getting several metres off the ground up relatively steep trunks and branches. The modern crocodilian limb is more adaptable than you might have thought.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iQxVJ0L6soc/UvxHKuiA8nI/AAAAAAAAA4U/VZyT7T4S6UY/s1600/juvenile+acutus+in+low+branch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iQxVJ0L6soc/UvxHKuiA8nI/AAAAAAAAA4U/VZyT7T4S6UY/s1600/juvenile+acutus+in+low+branch.jpg" height="194" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">photo by Petr Myska, C. acutus juveniles</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Why would they do this? Well, crocodilians frequently need to bask out of the water, and in areas where basking sites are limited (or where there's competition from other crocodilians), you have to make do with what you can. If you can climb it, why not use it? Getting above the water also gives you a better view of your surroundings, better to see potential threats, whether they be predators, other crocodiles, or curious fishermen in boats. Escaping to safety is an easy as falling off a log (ok, I admit it, I love that).<br /><br />We might be seeing an increase in climbing behaviour if crocodile populations are recovering and competition for basking sites rises. Changes in habitat can also alter behaviour. The point is, crocodilians are agile enough to climb up steep banks and tree branches if the need arises, they're better at it than you might have thought, and anything that makes us appreciate crocodilians a little more has to be a good thing.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HOt3FjpxCag/UvxG2D6xqHI/AAAAAAAAA4I/Nhr47GOdDvs/s1600/Fig2+edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HOt3FjpxCag/UvxG2D6xqHI/AAAAAAAAA4I/Nhr47GOdDvs/s1600/Fig2+edit.jpg" height="206" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">photo by&nbsp;<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Kristine Gingras, alligator up a tree in a non-tidal area</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table>One criticism I've read about the work is that crocodiles aren't really climbing trees, what they're doing is being lifted by the tide, settling in a branch, and then staying elevated as the tide falls back. I'm sure this happens quite often. However, crocodilians can be found in trees several metres above the water in non-tidal areas as well; assuming they haven't learned to fly or teleport, they must have climbed to get up there. We've seen this behaviour, I've even put small saltwater and freshwater crocodiles into branches and seen them clamber around quite successfully. You aren't going to find many 5 metre long crocodiles sitting in trees though, they're simply too heavy, and their limbs are not strong enough proportional to their body mass to lift them up. Larger crocodilians are much more likely to use tide where it's available to help them move around, not because they're lazy, but because they like to save energy.<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wulol.com/media/uploads/2012/12/crocodiles-can-now-fly-or-teleport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://wulol.com/media/uploads/2012/12/crocodiles-can-now-fly-or-teleport.jpg" height="200" width="188" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Another possible explanation for crocodiles in trees?</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Still, next time you see a crocodile or an alligator sitting in a tree, even if it's a low branch or floating log, consider it as a glimpse back in time to an age where long-extinct species once hunted for their prey over land and up into the trees. If you think that was unlikely, look at <i>Mekosuchus</i>, a group that may have occupied an ecological niche similar to modern day goannas, and therefore&nbsp;<a href="http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/05/13/mekosuchines-2009/" target="_blank">considered by some</a> to have been capable of climbing trees quite easily, perhaps to raid bird nests, perhaps to escape from predators, and perhaps just to find a nice, safe, comfortable spot to bask.http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2014/02/can-crocodiles-really-climb-trees.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-6546115954069988600Tue, 11 Feb 2014 06:07:00 +00002014-02-11T15:40:58.239+09:30accurate headlinescrocodilesmedianewsAccurate headlines: "Crocodile nightmare"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bZlXjxhdJ_s/Uvm6yRSXKsI/AAAAAAAAA3o/L0KNYm2BdG0/s1600/Crho+dramatic+jaws.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Crocodile drama (photographer unknown)" border="1" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bZlXjxhdJ_s/Uvm6yRSXKsI/AAAAAAAAA3o/L0KNYm2BdG0/s1600/Crho+dramatic+jaws.jpg" title="" /></a></div>The media really loves crocodiles, not because journalists necessarly&nbsp;<i>like</i>&nbsp;crocodiles, but because the word "crocodile" casts a thrall over many readers. They see a headline with the magic word in it, and they have to click the link, or buy the paper in the newsagent. It's therefore too much to resist shoehorning the word "crocodile" into as many news stories as possible. Every so often when I see a really egregious example, in the interests of accuracy and balance, I'm going to write a more accurate version. I'll try and post these under the tag "Accurate headlines". So, let's get started.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/02/10/17/53/crocodile-nightmare-for-four-fishing-mates" target="_blank">Here's one</a>&nbsp;(courtesy ninemsn) that struck me today, and it's a familiar theme. The headline is "<b>Crocodile nightmare for four fishing mates</b>". So wow, that sounds pretty dramatic! Were these four guys attacked by a crocodile? Perhaps they were threatened by one, or were in serious danger of being attacked?<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />Actually, no. What a relief, in fact. What actually happened was four guys went fishing, got themselves into difficulties for one reason or another, and consequently spent 14 hours stranded amongst flooded mangroves. They set off an EPIRB beacon and authorities spent a considerable period of time trying to locate them. Why so long? Well, unfortunately the guys hadn't registered the EPIRB (a standard safety requirement) which made finding out who owned the EPIRB and where they might be considerably harder. Fortunately authorities eventually got a decent signal and were able to locate them. No crocodiles were involved in any way, shape or form, other than the fact they were in mangrove habitat where crocodiles are known to live. That's it. Perhaps one of the guys had a nightmare about a crocodile while sleeping in the boat?<br /><br />So a more accurate headline might read: "<b>Four fishermen put their lives at risk and cost taxpayers thousands of dollars because they went fishing in bad weather unprepared and with an unregistered EPIRB</b>".<br /><br />Of course, we're all glad that they were rescued and that no crocodiles were involved, but the risk factor here was not the crocodiles but the lack of regard for their own safety. We can only wonder how worried their families were. If there's an upside to the dramatic angle taken by the headline, it's hopefully more people reading about the need to go out fishing with a bit more preparation and safety.http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2014/02/accurate-headlines-crocodile-nightmare.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-2341041341472247872Tue, 03 Dec 2013 03:34:00 +00002013-12-03T13:04:49.778+09:30Taking the bite out of crocodiles with CrocBITE<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2uKpl6c0Urs/Up1QHwsrl-I/AAAAAAAAAZs/nnZMl3ieTfU/s1600/SmaugBite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="339" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2uKpl6c0Urs/Up1QHwsrl-I/AAAAAAAAAZs/nnZMl3ieTfU/s640/SmaugBite.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crocodiles are neither evil nor malicious, but they do sometimes bite people. Photo Adam Britton</td></tr></tbody></table>Today we (<a href="http://www.big-gecko.com/" target="_blank">Big Gecko</a> and <a href="http://riel.cdu.edu.au/" target="_blank">Charles Darwin University</a>) are launching <a href="http://www.crocodile-attack.info/" target="_blank">CrocBITE</a>, an ambitious project to archive all crocodilian attack incidents from around the world, the purpose of which is to improve our understand of human-crocodile conflict (HCC). HCC is arguably the biggest threat to crocodilian conservation now, a reversal of fortunes for those crocodilian species whose populations have recovered sufficiently to come into regular conflict with growing human populations. CrocBITE isn't about vilifying crocs; quite the opposite, it's about understanding risk factors, addressing conservation problems, improving human safety, and increasing respect (or at least tolerance) for crocodiles.<br /><br />I wrote a piece for The Conversation which was published this morning, you can <a href="https://theconversation.com/croc-attacks-a-new-website-with-bite-20671" target="_blank">see that here</a>. However, I thought I'd post the original version here. It doesn't contain half as much information, but it takes a slightly different approach and makes some valid points.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Taking the bite out of crocodiles</b></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XUTTvxZaCe0/Up1QgTQqaDI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/GvfWWIlnsMI/s1600/mary+river+croc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XUTTvxZaCe0/Up1QgTQqaDI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/GvfWWIlnsMI/s320/mary+river+croc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saltwater crocodile on the Mary River,<br />Northern Territory. Photo Erin Britton</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Crocodiles have what many consider a rather off-putting character trait: they bite. It's fair to say most of us don't like being bitten. We like being eaten even less, and reserve our greatest contempt for creatures that dare to consume us, even if they only nibble off a limb or two. We label such animals as "monsters" that "infest" their chosen habitat; they are basically pests that deserve nothing more than a bullet between their cold, reptilian eyes.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But aren't these just wild animals doing what comes naturally to them? They've been around in a recognisably crocodile-like form for well over 100 million years. No living fossils these, they've spent that time being honed by selective pressures to become a highly efficient and adaptable predator. Yet their ability to survive is strongly correlated with the quality of their remaining habitat, and in our efforts to expand and claim ever more of it for our own uses, we have come into direct conflict with creatures that are trying just as hard as we are to survive. Our response to this conflict is to become the aggressor, to eliminate them to make ourselves feel safer. In areas of greatest conflict, crocodiles are hard to spot, fleeing at the first sign of humankind. Perhaps in their eyes, we are the real monsters.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Hopefully one of the above viewpoints got a reaction out of you. They represent extreme but divisive arguments about how to confront human-crocodile conflict, and indeed human-wildlife conflict in general. Variations on both should be familiar to anyone who has followed recent discussions about how to manage crocodile populations in Queensland.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">We’re here because of a particularly bitter irony: crocodile conservation has been a victim of its own success, so to speak. From uncontrolled exploitation after the second World War, to blanket protection from the early 1970s, crocodiles have long been an issue with teeth. Conservation strategies have needed to adapt. Once protected populations became numerous enough to result in more frequent crocodile attacks, public support quickly eroded. Management shifted from protection to sustainable use; the promise of profit as a conservation incentive, or perhaps a little bribery to tolerate the intolerable. It succeeded in building strong links between having crocodiles and having successful farming and tourism industries. Someone once told me they hate crocodiles with a passion, but they love their community with equal passion, and if having crocodiles supports local jobs then they’re ok as long as they toe the line. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The trouble is, crocodiles toe no line. They are wild animals subject to natural behaviour and the mathematical beauty of their population ecology. The more crocodiles there are around people, the greater the likelihood of someone entering their behavioural equation. People will only tolerate so much; attacks propagate fear, no matter how small the actual risk of being attacked is, and once the pressure to "do something" reaches a sympathetic political ear then crocodiles are going to come off second-best.</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is the situation developing in Queensland. Total exclusion zones are being created, in which the presence of crocodiles will not be tolerated. Crocodiles found outside their expected range elicit a rapid response to remove the perceived risk.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Despite this, pressure to change may be essential for the continued successful management of crocodiles in northern Australia, as long as the approach is based on sound science and a pragmatic compromise between competing interests.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Much work has and is being done to better understand the behaviour and ecology of crocodiles, although remarkably little has looked at their relationships with humans. Understanding what's behind human-crocodile conflict will be necessary if we're going to tackle it successfully. With obvious parallels to sharks, human-shark conflict has benefited from a more mature understanding of shark ecology and behaviour, but also through analysis of circumstances leading to shark attacks around the world.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Unlike the International Shark Attack File, no comprehensive database of crocodile attack incidents has been available to provide a strong basis for the analysis of human-crocodile conflict. This week we are launching CrocBITE, a worldwide crocodilian attack database that does exactly that. With nearly 2,000 incidents recorded across 16 species and 50 countries spanning a period of 150 years, it provides a strong baseline to better understand risk factors, trends, and how to address them. The database embraces citizen science by encouraging contributions from individuals and agencies around the world, over 50 of which have so far provided data. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Translating this knowledge into political outcomes remains a challenge, however, as the response to recent shark attacks in Western Australia has demonstrated. Crocodiles elicit similar strong emotions, and ensuring the best outcomes will require hard scientific and political work.</div>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2013/12/taking-bite-out-of-crocodiles-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-2381517688763685937Mon, 02 Dec 2013 06:24:00 +00002013-12-02T16:01:55.540+09:30Can crocodiles use tools?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q8ufb6IpXZk/UpwmQZppDxI/AAAAAAAAAZc/Le1mrklmTkU/s1600/Smaug+veg+on+head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="189" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q8ufb6IpXZk/UpwmQZppDxI/AAAAAAAAAZc/Le1mrklmTkU/s320/Smaug+veg+on+head.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smaug with hat, or devastatingly effective<br />camouflage? Photo by Brandon Sideleau.</td></tr></tbody></table>A blog article over at <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/11/30/tool-use-in-crocs-and-gators/" target="_blank">Tetrapod Zoology</a> (a site that you should bookmark and read regularly if you're not doing so already, because it's rather good) is running a story about tool use in crocodiles and alligators. Yes, that's right, tool use. We know that crocs are much smarter than people give them credit for, but are they really capable of using tools as well?<br /><br />The article references a paper that's just been published digitally by <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03949370.2013.858276#.UpwmjcQW0RV" target="_blank">Dinets <i>et al </i>(2013)</a>.&nbsp;They describe mugger crocodiles at the Madras Crocodile Bank appearing to balance sticks on their snout and sitting under nesting egret colonies. Egrets use sticks to build their nests, so they spot some floating in the water, land next to them, and get a nasty shock when they try and pick one up. The paper describes this as a deliberate attempt by the crocodiles to mislead the egrets into landing within striking range, with the sticks as the tools in the ruse. It's a compelling idea.<br /><br />Seeing crocodiles with sticks, leaves and other vegetation balanced on their head isn't new, we've all seen them doing it. We have a large saltwater crocodile who lives in a pool covered with <i>Fistia </i>spp, an aquatic plant that makes a fetching hat when he surfaces underneath one. I suspect many of us have wondered whether this plays any kind of functional role, or whether it's simply the crocodile not caring either way whether it has plants on its head. I've seen crocodiles surface in such dense vegetation that they can't actually see, and shake their head to clear them off. Other times they seem to sit quite happily without apparently noticing. If you were a bird and saw a nice bit of vegetation and didn't recognise what was underneath it, you might think that crocodiles could learn to use this vegetation to increase their chances of catching prey. It's certainly feasible, but proving it is another matter entirely.<br /><br />The Dinets <i>et al.</i>&nbsp;study suggests that mugger crocodiles only balance sticks on their head and sit under egret colonies during egret breeding season. This certainly supports the idea that something deliberate is going on, although it's still possible that it's incidental; perhaps the crocodiles spend more time sitting under egret colonies during egret breeding season, and those that have sticks on their heads might get lucky when an egret gets fooled? To counter this, the authors point out that the area around the egret colony doesn't have many sticks, suggesting that the crocodiles must bring them across to the colony for them to use as bait. Even if it is purely coincidental at first, crocs learn fast, and this might reinforce behaviour that makes sitting under a nesting egret colony with sticks on your head more likely.<br /><br />I think it's a great observation, even though there's still a skeptical part of my brain wondering whether there might be another explanation. I'd love to see more work done on this, because a study like this opens up a whole set of really interesting questions. Science! What is true, though, is that crocodiles do some amazing and unexpected things, and it wouldn't surprise me if they were this cunning. We know that they're capable of it.<br /><br />Dinets, V., Brueggen, J.C. &amp; Brueggen, J.D., 2013. Crocodilians use tools for hunting. <i>Ethology Ecology and Evolution</i>, in press. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2013.858276">doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2013.858276</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2013/12/can-crocodiles-use-tools.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-4203953694146979156Mon, 19 Aug 2013 08:33:00 +00002013-08-19T18:03:38.239+09:30CrocLog Podcast Episode 14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s1600/croclog-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s200/croclog-logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Ok, I admit, it's been a while. The last CrocLog Podcast was back in December, so it's been over eight months since the last episode. It's been difficult to find the time to record podcasts since the last one, not least due to family circumstances. Still, despite feeling really quite ill and Brandon feeling really quite tired, we managed to record Episode 14 back in June. I'm now back from a trip to Botswana, and so I've been able to put the finishing touches to Brandon's editing, and here it is at last. I'd like to think we can get back onto a reasonable schedule from now on.<br /><br /><br />In this episode we don't interview anyone, but you do get to hear us at our worst! Apologies for sounding half-dead, but it's better than being any more dead than that. Brandon and I have a good chat though about the recent Crocodile Specialist Group meeting that took place in Sri Lanka in May, we talk about Lolong's death, discuss the challenges in transporting giant crocodiles overseas, and Brandon brings us up to date on crocodile attacks and the progress of the attack database.<br /><br />Links to the podcast below:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><iframe frameborder="0" height="36" src="http://archive.org/embed/CroclogPodcast-Episode14" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/croclog-ep14.mp3">Direct link / Download</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=404790438">iTunes link</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/feed.xml">RSS</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2013/08/croclog-podcast-episode-14.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-7279222068915449675Tue, 13 Aug 2013 01:56:00 +00002013-08-13T11:26:51.636+09:30You can carry the entire Chinese alligator genome on a USB stick<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ufyd3QM_pn4/UgmOUCAV1cI/AAAAAAAAAZM/DMMaNRh7Mq0/s1600/sinensis+crop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ufyd3QM_pn4/UgmOUCAV1cI/AAAAAAAAAZM/DMMaNRh7Mq0/s1600/sinensis+crop.JPG" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">So Zhejiang University scientists have finally sequenced the entire genome for the Chinese alligator (<i>Alligator sinensis</i>). This is a pretty big deal, and the first fully published genome for any crocodilian. Amazingly, the entire genome is a "mere" 2.3 Gb of data, enough to fit onto a cheap USB stick, or perhaps on your phone.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Why is sequencing entire genomes important? Well, the genome contains all the instructions on how to build and operate a Chinese alligator, with all of its accrued evolutionary innovations over hundreds of millions of years, everything that makes this species both remarkable and unique. It's all there, all we have to do now is figure out which instructions do what. The team behind this have already identified several interesting "subroutines", such as modifications made to haemoglobin to increase oxygen carrying capacity, genes responsible for immunity and the function of antimicrobial peptides that give their immune system such potency, and many clues to their evolutionary history. It feels a little like hacking an operating system, except one that's considerably more complex than Windows (and is far less prone to crashing). Besides, it represents another opportunity to point out just how incredible these creatures actually are.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">I look forward to being able to upload the genome into an artificial life simulator on my PC to recreate a digital <i>Alligator sinensis</i>. Maybe not in 2013, but I'm sure it's coming.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Here's the full paper published in Nature:</span><br /><a href="http://www.nature.com/cr/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/cr2013104a.html">http://www.nature.com/cr/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/cr2013104a.html</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2013/08/you-can-carry-entire-chinese-alligator.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-1915652093773343974Mon, 13 May 2013 06:40:00 +00002013-05-13T16:35:47.420+09:30What really killed Lolong?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wY1udje7CDs/UZCJLU9yD1I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/TX1rIwDQzE8/s1600/Lolong+capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="156" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wY1udje7CDs/UZCJLU9yD1I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/TX1rIwDQzE8/s320/Lolong+capture.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alas poor Lolong, we hardly knew ye. The largest living crocodile that any of us had ever seen is gone, a mere 18 months after he was caught. It's now been a little while since he died, the initial disappointment has passed, teeth have been gnashed and fingers have been pointed. Still, I'm repeatedly asked about what caused his death. We have the official necropsy results of course, although many of you won't have had the chance to see those. So just what killed the largest crocodile in captivity and could anything have been done to prevent it?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Seeing Lolong was one of those "once in a lifetime" events. He was a glimpse into the past, a time that's probably lost forever when truly massive reptiles lurked in the river. For many, Lolong's size was fearsome yet he was remarkably gentle while he was in captivity. Worryingly so, in fact. Of course, Lolong was accused of having killed and eaten at least two people, leading to his "most wanted" status in the first place. Nobody ever proved that Lolong was responsible for those deaths, although it's certainly quite possible and a reasonable conclusion. Despite this, his impact on the Philippines can be measured by their national response to his death, the mourning for an individual whose species is generally despised so much it is compared unfavourably to the nation's politicians. His iconic status did much to earn crocodiles (of the non-political kind) some respect.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I mentioned above that Lolong seemed remarkably gentle. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the effects of capturing large crocodiles from the wild. It's a phenomenon called "capture myopathy"; the shock of being caught, poked and prodded, and introduced to a completely new and alien environment is a stressful experience, particularly for an animal as large as Lolong who has been master of his domain for decades. It might seem unusual to think of crocodiles as being susceptible to stress, but they're just like any other vertebrate in that respect and something that anyone who maintains captive crocodiles should be aware of.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet despite this, crocodiles can adapt remarkably well to captivity. Think about it. In the wild you need to devote all your time and effort to survival, the fine balance between saving energy and finding food, knowing where the best shelter is, where the best breeding areas are, and defending those resources from other crocodiles. In captivity, it's all presented to you on a platter, often without annoying competitors trying to muscle in. The need to range widely in search of food, shelter, mates and virtually anything else is gone, instead the crocodile can stay in the one place where all its needs are met. Believe it or not, this does sometimes happen in the wild; those rare situations where there's plenty of food and shelter within a very restricted area, and wild crocodiles have been found that essentially remain in the same place for years. Fence or not, there's no reason to leave nirvana. A good captive environment has to provide a similar experience, and many zoos spend millions of dollars ensuring this is the case.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Should Lolong have lived in a multi-million dollar enclosure then? I'm sure it would have helped, but when you see some of the muddy holes that wild crocodiles call home you realise that crocodiles aren't looking for aesthetics that appeal to us, they're looking for shelter and the basic necessities for survival. It may not have looked pretty, but Lolong was provided with those basic necessities. Trouble is, there were some fundamental problems that ultimately led to his demise.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lolong's necropsy<span style="color: #666666;">*</span> revealed that he died from congestive heart failure compounded by fungal pneumonia, lipidosis of the liver and kidney failure. Essentially his immune system was compromised, and if there's one thing that will do this it's chronic (ie. long-term) stress. Interestingly, it didn't appear to start out this way. He began eating within a few weeks of being captured, which was remarkably quick for a such a large, wild-caught crocodile subjected to a prolonged capture and a post-capture stomach flush. Eating is always a good sign, it shows that the crocodile is comfortable enough with its new surroundings that it starts to resume normal behaviour. Crocodiles do not eat if they are highly stressed, although I'm referring here to acute (or short-term) stress. Some rare crocodiles have been known to literally starve themselves to death after capture, they never adapt to captivity or recover from the shock of being caught. If you've ever asked yourself "I wonder how scientists know that adult crocodiles can last for nearly two years without food?"... well, now you know.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course getting a crocodile to eat isn't necessarily cause to relax, but all the signs pointed to Lolong settling down into his new surroundings and behaving normally. So what happened? The answer seems clear in retrospect, and concerns were indeed raised about this practice well in advance. I'm talking about the regular draining of water from Lolong's enclosure, apparently on a daily basis. This was started, so I was told, to ensure that Lolong always had clean water, but it served another purpose: it ensured that the hundreds of visitors who travelled from around the Philippines (and indeed from around the world) could get a clear view of Lolong sitting in shallow water. It would be disappointing to visit the world-famous Lolong and find that he spent nearly all of his time hiding underwater. Indeed, have you ever seen a photograph or YouTube video of Lolong when he wasn't fully exposed? Unfortunately, pulling back the curtain on anyone's quiet time can be stressful. The water was his only shelter, for those times when he wanted to be left alone. I hoped that Lolong would eventually get used to this; crocodiles are pretty good at adapting to routines even if they're less than pleasant, and the time he was exposed seemed to be relatively brief. Perhaps he could have adapted to this eventually, had he been given more time to adapt to his new home first. Sadly this was not to be. Another unavoidable consequence of Lolong sitting in shallow water for an hour or two every day was made apparent during his necropsy, where abrasion of the skin on his head, teeth, claws, pectoral and pelvic areas, and his toes all show the effect of a large, heavy crocodile forced to sit and move on unyielding, rough concrete. Internally many organs showed signs of bruising where Lolong's one tonne mass inflicted its toll on a body that was never intended to lie on a hard surface repeatedly. The final straw for Lolong may have been Typhoon Pablo which hit the Philippines shortly before Lolong's death, causing temperatures to drop and his immune system to take another hit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q5MPxbn4UwI/UZCQA1BP8ZI/AAAAAAAAAYg/syPRHpxnbH0/s1600/Lolong+tail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q5MPxbn4UwI/UZCQA1BP8ZI/AAAAAAAAAYg/syPRHpxnbH0/s320/Lolong+tail.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">These problems suggest, as some news articles have claimed, a callousness and disregard towards Lolong's well-being. I don't agree, and I think it's unfair. Anyone who actually met his caretakers would have realised he was well-loved. You might say they adored him. Not just because he put their town of Bunawan on the map, but because they were all clearly in awe of him. Clearly there were also financial incentives to keep Lolong alive; he was popular, brought much money into the community, and generated a lot of national and international attention. You don't kill the golden goose, so why would his caretakers wish to be careless? I put it down to inexperience, particularly towards the needs of large crocodiles in captivity. Perhaps those of us who advised them to make changes didn't state our case strongly enough, or encourage improvements to be made quickly enough. Crocodiles can easily lead their caretakers into a false sense of security, because it takes months for problems to become apparent on the surface. I saw Lolong two months after he'd been in captivity, after he appeared to be adapting well by eating and behaving normally. Routines such as draining the pool had been established (although I only learned of this later) and his caretakers perhaps didn't see any pressing reason to change this, causing subsequent concerns to be overlooked? Even then I hoped that Lolong would adapt to this routine, in the same way that captive crocodiles in zoos adapt to the stress of visitors constantly walking past their enclosure; they quickly learn that it's not a threat to worry about, and stress levels drop. The desire by his caretakers to keep the water clean was also admirable, because we're taught that dirty water equals disease, but crocodiles actually prefer murky water - it's a much better hiding place than clear water. Draining the water also drained whatever heat was in that water, and while the replacement water may have been at a similar temperature, it's another question mark over the need for this routine. Ultimately this was all too much for Lolong to deal with so soon after having been captured from the wild, all he'd known for over half a century.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps it was love that killed Lolong? A desire to keep his water clean and clear, and to show him off like proud parents ended up being too stressful for him so early in his captive life, before he'd had chance to really feel at home. I've read much criticism that his enclosure was too small and contributed to his death, but that's a red herring. Lolong's enclosure was actually relatively large compared to those provided to many other captive crocodiles in zoos, he had plenty of room to move around in the water and on land, and even though the pool could have been deeper it was really the constant draining that caused major problems. It's interesting that Cassius, the massive crocodile to whom the record for "world's largest" has now reverted, has been kept in a much smaller enclosure for nearly three decades now. He's doing just fine.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lolong's death has inevitably raised questions about whether he should have been captured in the first place, and indeed whether any crocodiles should ever be kept in captivity. Animal rights issues aside, it seems many have forgotten the reason that Lolong was captured in the first place. He was a wanted crocodile; poison baits had been set out by the local community to kill him, and more direct methods would have been used if the opportunity arose. Few people will tolerate a killer crocodile in their midst, and why should they? Crocodiles that attack people develop a dangerous knowledge that humans can be easy prey, and it is well known that they will return to an area again in the future to look for more. This is a real fear for people who live alongside crocodiles, and no matter how much you love crocodiles it makes sense to remove such antagonistic individuals to better protect the remaining wild population, particularly in a country with little love for crocodiles in the first place. So what do you do when the wild population is so rare? It's a no-win situation. It would have been ideal to leave Lolong in the wild, but does such specious thinking have a place in our overcrowded world? Conflict between humans and wildlife can have major repercussions for conservation (not to mention human safety, which any level-headed human regards as being of prime importance). Yet at the same time we can't simply remove all wild animals simply because it makes us feel better, or safer. There has to be a compromise, and unfortunately for Lolong he was that compromise at that particular time and place. Perhaps his death can be a lesson for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let us instead celebrate Lolong, and what he was able to achieve in his short time in captivity. It's testament to his ability to inspire people that the same animal who was once hunted for perhaps killing a nine year old girl and a fisherman caused a town to go into mourning when he died. Lolong, more than any crocodile before him in the Philippines, did what years of education by humans were struggling to do - change people's perceptions on a large scale about crocodiles. He was a true ambassador for crocodiles, and while some may see his enforced captivity as a bad thing, nobody can deny his unanticipated achievements for crocodile conservation in a country that has traditionally had a great mistrust of them. The government issued a resolution pledging to improve conservation for crocodiles throughout the Philippines, of benefit primarily to the endemic and critically endangered Philippine crocodile. The irony here is that the inoffensive Philippine crocodile has always suffered because of its association with the more aggressive and dangerous saltwater crocodile, but finally that association proved to be an asset through Lolong. So let's make sure it counts by not forgetting him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CrY24Fl5ybI/UZCQaSUVWHI/AAAAAAAAAYw/8V0P2RvsXEk/s1600/Lolong+lateral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CrY24Fl5ybI/UZCQaSUVWHI/AAAAAAAAAYw/8V0P2RvsXEk/s320/Lolong+lateral.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(c) National Geographic</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a final note, now that Lolong has died the Guinness World Record for the longest crocodile in captivity reverts back to the impressive Cassius, a nearly 5.5 m (18 ft) saltwater crocodile living on Green Island in Queensland, Australia. Make sure you pay him a visit while you can. Yet Lolong remains, in spite of his death, the largest crocodile that has ever been accurately measured. I wonder if there's a record for that...?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">*A&nbsp;<i>necropsy</i>&nbsp;is an examination of a body after death to determine the cause of said death. It's interchangeable with&nbsp;<i>autopsy&nbsp;</i>but necropsy is typically used when dealing with animal carcasses. It's one of those cool words that gets its brief moment in the limelight when something eventful like this happens.</span></div>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2013/05/what-really-killed-lolong.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-1911225918895666999Sat, 13 Apr 2013 02:33:00 +00002013-04-13T12:03:37.232+09:30A monster crocodile in Toledo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mv7RniS-Fbo/UWiDF_Ivm8I/AAAAAAAAAXY/lxjg6d9B9YI/s1600/DSC01483crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mv7RniS-Fbo/UWiDF_Ivm8I/AAAAAAAAAXY/lxjg6d9B9YI/s320/DSC01483crop.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In late 2012, Toledo Zoo contacted our company looking for an adult saltwater crocodile for their forthcoming Wild Walkabout exhibit. They weren't looking for a particularly massive one, only about 4 metres (about 13 feet long). I figured we could do a bit better than that. It just so happened that I knew of an awesome 5.2 m (17 ft) saltwater crocodile that was whiling away the days in a muddy pool in captivity, an animal that had been removed under license as a "problem crocodile" from a landowner's property a couple of years earlier. What better role than as an ambassador for how awesome crocodiles are (and how many big crocs there are in the NT!) for Toledo Zoo? It didn't take long for Toledo to upgrade their ambitions, and so began the long process of arranging the transport of a massive crocodile halfway around the world. We've done this before several times, but each transport presents its own challenges. The main priority is to make sure the crocodile is happy and has a stress-free journey, something we've gotten down to a fine art. In fact the only issues were some last minute bureaucratic mix-ups, but these were sorted in the nick of time and it all went as smoothly as could be expected. "Baru" (as he is now known) is happily exploring his new million-dollar facility at Toledo Zoo. I think most of us would be quite happy with a million dollar home. So now you have an excuse to visit Toledo and visit Baru. The rest of the zoo is also very good, I was really impressed with some of the innovative designs and behavioural enrichment ideas that I saw, and their conservation breeding program is world-class (eg. <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100817111833.htm" target="_blank">Kihansi spray toad reintroduction</a>).<br /><br />Here's the <a href="http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2013/04/06/17-foot-Australian-crocodile-arrives-in-Toledo-after-30-hour-flight-finds-new-home-in-zoo.html" target="_blank">news story</a> that the Toledo Blade published which shows some of the transport and offloading process. They got a few figures wrong, including the fact that the journey actually took over 50 hours, not 30 hours. They also didn't mention the part on the 15 hour international flight where the captain announced to the entire passenger compartment that they were sharing a flight with a very large saltwater crocodile. There was audible gasps.http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-monster-crocodile-in-toledo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-870423291366229247Thu, 14 Feb 2013 02:41:00 +00002013-02-14T12:11:01.381+09:30A Night for the Crocs<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WBa4yhP9HvM/URxNzCQlvoI/AAAAAAAAAXI/gGRKsMSKMjw/s1600/tomistoma-soham-s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WBa4yhP9HvM/URxNzCQlvoI/AAAAAAAAAXI/gGRKsMSKMjw/s1600/tomistoma-soham-s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adult Tomistoma, Photo (c) Soham Mukherjee</td></tr></tbody></table>I should have posted about this earlier, but recent events have made the last few weeks a little hectic. This Saturday 16 February an event called "A Night for the Crocs" is being held at Zoo Miami in Florida.<br /><br />There are all kinds of activities for kids and adults alike, and best of all the proceeds for the event will be used by the Tomistoma Task Force of the IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group for direct action to conserve the endangered Tomistoma (false gharial) and its peat swamp forest habitats in Malaysia and Indonesia.<br /><br />I won't duplicate any more information from their website, so go and check it out <a href="http://www.crocodilequest.org/events.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Sounds like a lot of fun for a good cause, and you can't argue with that!http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-night-for-crocs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-1889012455100194584Mon, 11 Feb 2013 01:48:00 +00002013-02-11T11:18:09.423+09:30So long, LolongSadly, Lolong the record-breaking 6.17 m saltwater crocodile caught in the Philippines in September 2011 died last night around 8 pm local time. There's a lot of speculation about the cause of death, but until a necropsy has been completed, we won't actually know what killed him. Ronnie Sumillar, the local expert who led the capture effort, is conducting the necropsy. I'm sure this is not what he wanted to be doing today.<br /><br />I'll write a more detailed post when more has been confirmed.http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2013/02/so-long-lolong.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-4948406068798719366Fri, 30 Nov 2012 04:16:00 +00002012-11-30T13:46:01.791+09:30CrocLog Podcast Episode 13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s1600/croclog-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s200/croclog-logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>As promised, here's Episode 13 of the CrocLog Podcast. This is a special edition that focuses on the Christmas Croc Fest 2012, and we speak with one of the organisers Shawn Heflick who is hosting the event at his place in Florida. Some of you might know Shawn as one of the hosts of The Python Hunters which airs on Nat Geo Wild in the US and National Geographic Channel in the UK, and he's a bit of a croc fanatic.<br /><br />Next up in December is our Christmas Special where we'll be answering a lot of questions from our listeners. It should be a fun time, so watch this space.<br /><br />Click below for the podcast, plus links to where you can learn more about the Christmas Croc Fest 2012.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />Christmas Croc Fest 2012 Facebook page:<br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/321891504576700/">https://www.facebook.com/events/321891504576700/</a> <br /><br />CrocBlog post with more details on what, when and where:<br /><a href="http://crocodilian.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/how-to-save-orinoco-crocodiles.html">http://crocodilian.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/how-to-save-orinoco-crocodiles.html</a><br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="36" src="http://archive.org/embed/CroclogPodcast-Episode13" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/croclog-ep13.mp3">Direct link / Download</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=404790438">iTunes link</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/feed.xml">RSS</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2012/11/croclog-podcast-episode-13.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-1826685110866195948Wed, 28 Nov 2012 03:45:00 +00002012-11-28T13:15:49.576+09:30CrocLog Podcast Episode 12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s1600/croclog-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s200/croclog-logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>It's nearly Christmas, and that can only mean not one, not two, but three CrocLog Podcast episodes over the next few weeks! Here's the first one, Episode 12, which is a nice long one to make up for the interval since the last one. Episode 13 will be coming shortly afterwards and is much shorter, where we'll be talking about an upcoming fund-raising event for crocodiles.<br /><br />In this episode we interview Subir Chowfin about his work on gharials in the Corbett Tiger Reserve in India. Brandon and I also bring you up to date on the latest crocodile news, some interesting recent research on crocodile sense organs, Brandon updates us on crocodile attacks, and I try my best to keep the distracting noise in my microphone to a minimum. The wonders of modern audio technology.<br /><br />Links to the podcast and a few of the stories below:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />1. Crocodile jaws are super sensitive:<br /><a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/content/215/23/i.1">http://jeb.biologists.org/content/215/23/i.1</a> <br /><br />2. Nile crocodile captured in Gaza Strip:<br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/2012115173754869573.html">http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/2012115173754869573.html</a> <br /><br />3. Last wild Siamese crocodile killed in Vietnam?:<br /><a href="http://www.thanhniennews.com/index/pages/20121005-going-gone.aspx">http://www.thanhniennews.com/index/pages/20121005-going-gone.aspx</a><br /><br />4. How not to feed a wild crocodile:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVfgjU5w6JU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVfgjU5w6JU</a><br /><br />5. Dozens of crocodiles escape from a farm in Vietnam:<br /><a href="http://www.nhandan.com.vn/cmlink/nhandan-online/homepage/society/current/ca-mau-72-escaped-crocodiles-captured-1.372471">http://www.nhandan.com.vn/cmlink/nhandan-online/homepage/society/current/ca-mau-72-escaped-crocodiles-captured-1.372471</a><br /><br />6. American crocodile on San Andres Islands:<br /><a href="http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news-lite/news/25841-crocodile-terrorizes-colombias-san-andres-island-video.html">http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news-lite/news/25841-crocodile-terrorizes-colombias-san-andres-island-video.html</a><br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="36" src="http://archive.org/embed/CroclogPodcast-Episode12" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/croclog-ep12.mp3">Direct link / Download</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=404790438">iTunes link</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/feed.xml">RSS</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2012/11/croclog-podcast-episode-12.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-3971152713790095051Thu, 08 Nov 2012 14:40:00 +00002012-11-09T08:53:21.364+09:30Crocodile skin is more sensitive than your fingertips<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s7E3eALRfls/UJvDh_UUlCI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/PEC6YjazKyE/s1600/!ken3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s7E3eALRfls/UJvDh_UUlCI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/PEC6YjazKyE/s1600/!ken3.jpg" /></a></div>Crocodiles are covered in a scaly skin. And on each scale are tiny pressure receptors called ISOs, or "integumentary sense organs". These are very densely packed onto the scales around the jaws, but can also be found across the whole body. Well, except alligators and caimans. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, alligators and caimans have no ISOs on their body scales, only on the head.<br /><div><br /></div><div>It's been known for decades that ISOs are sensitive to pressure. They function as mechanoreceptors, which means that when they are deformed by pressure, they send a signal to the brain. Touch something with your fingertip - the texture you're feeling is the result of tiny deformations causing nerve signals to be sent to the brain which interprets them appropriately. As a result of this study, we know that the pressure-sensitive ISO organs on the head and jaws of crocodiles are so good at detecting pressure changes, they are even more sensitive than human fingertips. That's pretty darn impressive. Earlier work suggested that ISOs served to detect pressure changes at the water's surface, but this latest study proves they're a lot more versatile than that. They can detect a wide variety of touch sensations, pressure changes, and vibrations. Everything from delicately manipulating hatchlings to detecting minute pressure changes created by fish swimming past their jaws in the water. And more. We're working on one particular study at the moment that has just had a lot of light shed on it by this news.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ2J_ReRudc/UJvDg6f-ENI/AAAAAAAAAWI/xf9vr50tNRM/s1600/%2521ken2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ2J_ReRudc/UJvDg6f-ENI/AAAAAAAAAWI/xf9vr50tNRM/s320/%2521ken2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Impressively, the study also clearly shows that the ISOs on the body also function as mechanoreceptors. The feet in particular are very sensitive, and could detect pressure changes in the water (and certainly touch). I once described the crocodile as being surrounded by a pressure sensitive net, so it's very cool to see the science behind it detailed so thoroughly and effectively.</div><div><br /></div><div>I strongly recommend that you read the full paper at the <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/content/215/23/i.1" target="_blank">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>. There are some very cool diagrams of nerve networks, and it will really give you an appreciation for just how remarkable the ISO system is for crocodiles.</div>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2012/11/crocodile-skin-is-more-sensitive-than.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-2867760514983528809Thu, 08 Nov 2012 02:30:00 +00002012-11-08T12:04:10.801+09:30How to save Orinoco crocodiles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0L2rft8428/UJsW_be-aLI/AAAAAAAAAV4/zNjflOxGiRQ/s1600/Orinoco+portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0L2rft8428/UJsW_be-aLI/AAAAAAAAAV4/zNjflOxGiRQ/s640/Orinoco+portrait.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Orinoco crocodile, Photo by Roger Manrique</span></i></div><br />The Orinoco crocodile, <i>Crocodylus intermedius</i>, is a Critically Endangered species found only in restricted areas of Colombia and Venezuela. It's one of a handful of croc species that are in serious trouble right now, but there are ways in which you can make a difference. The easiest of these is to raise funds to support an active and effective conservation and management program, and right now you're in luck because the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/321891504576700/" target="_blank">Christmas Croc Fest 2012</a> is raising money for such an program. We'll be highlighting more ways in which you can make a difference to crocodilian conservation efforts around the world in the coming months, so right now it's the turn of <i>C. intermedius </i>to bask in the spotlight of concern. I'll hand you over to the organising committee for the Croc Fest after the break, and they'll tell you exactly why you need to attend.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">On December 8, 2012, Shawn Heflick, Flavio Morrissiey, Curt Harbsmeier, and Colette Adams will partner once again to raise money for another critically endangered crocodile species – the <st1:place w:st="on">Orinoco</st1:place> crocodile, <i>Crocodylus intermedius</i>. At an event hosted at the home of Shawn and Jen Heflick in <st1:city w:st="on">Palm Bay</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Florida</st1:state>, we seek to raise USD $10,000.00 for <em>Asociación Chelonia</em>, a Madrid-based NGO that has already made great progress in getting a comprehensive conservation program underway for Orinoco crocodiles in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. &nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoPlainText"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">Thanks to the generosity and commitment of both the private sector and zoos, over the past four years, nearly $25,000 has been raised for endangered crocodiles. ALL proceeds go straight to the crocodile project, with expenses covered by the organizers. So, if you are not going to be able to make it, auction items and/or cash donations will be greatly appreciated. Checks can be made out to Gladys Porter Zoo and sent to the address below. </span></div><div class="MsoPlainText"><br /></div><div class="MsoPlainText"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">This is FUN all day event! There will be BBQ, libations, live music and live animal presentations. There will also be tours of Shawn’s facility. Bring the family, and enjoy swimming, kayaking, canoeing and fishing in the 2 acre spring-fed lake on the property (bring your own poles, etc).</span></div><div class="MsoPlainText"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><u style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">About the Program</u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">Commercial hunting of the Orinoco crocodile began around 1929, and from that time to 1960, it is estimated that between 2 and 4 million crocodiles were killed in both <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Surveys now reveal that the total wild population of Orinoco crocodiles in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region> is likely less than 130 individuals, down from an estimated 780 in 1974-1975. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">The majority of the remaining population of this species in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region> is located in the area where the work of <em>Asociación Chelonia</em> is taking place. Its program, initiated in 2010, began with surveys of the wild population in conjunction with evaluation of the crocodiles’ ecosystems. &nbsp;With much of the groundwork for this project already laid, its proposed activities over the next two years include the following: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;"></div><ul><li><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">Identify an adequate site for a headstart and release program, with accessibility for follow-up and enforcement of protection laws in mind</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">Work with landowners to create a private reserve for a pilot reintroduction program</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">Continue to conduct local and national education campaigns, including the development of web pages for children, educators and biologists</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">Develop publications on the 6 species of crocodilians in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region> and distribute these free-of-charge to educational, environmental and conservation-based entities</span></span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">The budget that has been developed to conduct these activities is USD $194,404.00. &nbsp;Over $120,000.00 has already been raised, with support from such organizations as the Endowment Fund for Biodiversity (France), the Biodiversity Foundation (<st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region>), and ANP – Natural Protected Areas – in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;"><u>About <em>Asociación Chelonia</em></u><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">Dedicated to the creation of scientific conservation partnerships for sustainable human development and the conservation of nature, <em>Asociación Chelonia</em> was formed in 1997 by the Students of Biological Sciences, <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Madrid</st1:place></st1:state>.&nbsp; It is established at ten sites within Spanish territories and has permanent offices in six other countries. In addition to its work with Orinoco crocodiles in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, its focus areas include amphibian decline, climate change and sea turtle conservation. In 2010, <em>Asociación Chelonia</em> entered into a five-year cooperative agreement with Corporinoquia (the government environmental authority in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>) to work together on the Orinoco Crocodile Conservation Project. Additionally, this first-ever targeted release program was included as one action item in the 1998-2008 National Program for the Conservation of Orinoco Crocodiles in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75;">For more on<em> Asociación Chelonia</em> and its work, go to <a href="http://www.chelonia.es/">www.chelonia.es</a>. For event info, see <a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/321891504576700/">http://www.facebook.com/events/321891504576700/</a>&nbsp;or </span><span style="color: #351c75;">contact this event’s organizers: Shawn Heflick &lt;</span><a href="mailto:sheflick@aol.com">sheflick@aol.com</a><span style="color: #351c75;">&gt;, Curt Harbsmeier &lt;</span><a href="mailto:charbsmeier@hdalaw.com">charbsmeier@hdalaw.com</a><span style="color: #351c75;">&gt;, Colette Adams &lt;</span><a href="mailto:colettehadams@aol.com">colettehadams@aol.com</a><span style="color: #351c75;">&gt; and Flavio Morissiey &lt;</span><a href="mailto:flavio@gatoradventuresite.com">flavio@gatoradventuresite.com</a><span style="color: #351c75;">&gt;</span></span></div>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-to-save-orinoco-crocodiles.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-2319141553144164539Mon, 03 Sep 2012 06:38:00 +00002012-09-03T16:08:39.890+09:30Can crocodiles predict earthquakes?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://alabamaquake.com/Images/PS%20Wave%20Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://alabamaquake.com/Images/PS%20Wave%20Picture.jpg" width="350" /></a></div>Things have been a little quiet on the Croc Blog of late, so to shake things up here's a curious news item from the Philippines. Apparently seconds before the strong magnitude 7.7 earthquake tremor in East Samar recently, Lolong reacted violently while resting in his enclosure. The news agency suggests that Lolong was able to predict the earthquake, although with seconds to spare I doubt he'll be making that role official. But what's going on? Can crocodiles really predict earthquakes?<br /><br />Well there is a more reasonable explanation. Lolong was simply responding to low frequency vibrations transmitted through the ground immediately prior to the earthquake. These are termed P waves, or compressional waves, and it's often difficult for humans to detect these. Crocodiles, however, are experts at detecting changes in pressure and vibrations, so it's very likely that Lolong was feeling the P waves produced at the beginning of the tremor. S waves, or shear waves, tend to follow P waves and are the ones that do the damage, and the ones that we are most aware of.<br /><br />Why did Lolong react to the P waves? We know that crocodiles are highly sensitive to pressure waves, senses that are used not only to detect potential prey but also for social communication. Thunder and vibrations transmitted through the ground frequently trigger a territorial response from large male crocodiles (and a fear, distress response from small, subordinate crocodiles), and an earthquake's P wave would only heighten that response. There wouldn't be many crocodiles capable of giving Lolong a serious territorial challenge, but the P wave of an impending earthquake would very likely feel like one.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/lifestyle/09/03/12/did-giant-croc-lolong-predict-76-quake">Did giant croc 'Lolong' predict 7.6 quake? | ABS-CBN News</a><br /><br /><i><span style="color: #999999;">Image credit: http://alabamaquake.com/</span></i>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2012/09/can-crocodiles-predict-earthquakes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-9200395463995412500Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:22:00 +00002012-08-25T13:38:47.249+09:30CrocLog Podcast Episode 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s1600/croclog-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pcDQTg6Ezvk/TOKH0FokvaI/AAAAAAAAAIc/VwUFDnT1Fiw/s200/croclog-logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>After a possibly record-breaking interval of three months, Episode 11 of the CrocLog Podcast is finally available. As usual the delay is down to basically being very busy, but while Brandon was visiting me in Darwin last month we sat down and discussed some of the latest croc news.<br /><br />We couldn't line up our interviewee for this episode, so they will be appearing in the next one instead. So instead Brandon and I discuss the recent CSG Working Meeting in Manila, a few more ongoing dramas with Lolong, taking tissue samples from Nile crocodiles while diving with them, giant prehistoric crocodiles, tiny extant pygmy crocodiles, and some recent crocodile attack incidents.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Links to the podcast and a few of the stories below:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />1. Lolong officially world's largest living captive crocodile:<br /><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120702-biggest-crocodile-lolong-guinness-world-records-animals-science/">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120702-biggest-crocodile-lolong-guinness-world-records-animals-science/</a> <br /><br />2. Largest extinct "true crocodile" found:<br /><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/120508-biggest-crocodile-early-humans-science-animals/">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/120508-biggest-crocodile-early-humans-science-animals/</a> <br /><br />3.Giant mekosuchine from Australia:<br /><a href="http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/croc-and-awe-over-dino-mite-fossil/story-e6frfkp9-1226442903133">http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/croc-and-awe-over-dino-mite-fossil/story-e6frfkp9-1226442903133</a><br /><br />4. Pygmy crocs are not a new species:<br /><a href="http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2012/08/04/312547_ntnews.html">http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2012/08/04/312547_ntnews.html</a><br /><br />5. CSG Working Meeting report in CSG Newsletter:<br /><a href="http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/32(2-106e97f8.pdf">http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/32(2-106e97f8.pdf</a><br /><br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="36" src="http://archive.org/embed/CroclogPodcast-Episode11" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/croclog-ep11.mp3">Direct link / Download</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=404790438">iTunes link</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crocodilian.com/podcast/feed.xml">RSS</a>http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2012/08/croclog-podcast-episode-11.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10225071.post-6779969502391164870Sat, 14 Jul 2012 04:59:00 +00002012-07-21T14:31:32.986+09:30Diving with Nile Crocodiles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0bFpRhC36pQ/UAD0V4084xI/AAAAAAAAAUw/_axhsnA0WAM/s1600/adamunderwater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0bFpRhC36pQ/UAD0V4084xI/AAAAAAAAAUw/_axhsnA0WAM/s400/adamunderwater.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Yes, that's me sneaking up on the tail of a nearly 4.5 m Nile crocodile (<i>Crocodylus niloticus</i>) in the Okavango Delta recently [photo credit Brad Bestelink, Natural History Film Unit]. We called this crocodile "Number 9" because that's his data ID. It also has a nice ring to it. If you want to see what happens next, you'll have to tune into 60 Minutes (Australia) which airs this Sunday 15 July at 8pm (EST) on Channel Nine. This is part of a research project that we're running in Botswana, the details of which I'll go into in a future post. There is a reason behind getting so close to this crocodile underwater, other than simply getting some amazing film footage courtesy of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NaturalHistoryFilmUnit" target="_blank">Natural History Film Unit</a>.<br /><br />Here's the 60 Minutes promo for the story. They dusted off Mr Dramatic Voice-over Man just for the occasion. Yes I know, it's a promo, it has to look like a Michael Bay movie, but I'm fairly sure the actual story itself will be more balanced. If not I shall send Smaug across to deal with them.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyXbZN1LbXs6ZjRiRReojnG-ZfptxXASRxAMvh-gRuqLjVtjCVJJRl9YCPs40cDJ6iAacK1ABCNmbo' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Liz Hayes (reporter) also posted a blog about her experiences with us in Botswana which you can </span><a href="http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=1026619&amp;showcomments=true" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">read here</a><span style="background-color: white;">, and there's a photo gallery </span><a href="http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/slideshow.aspx?sectionid=5566&amp;sectionname=slideshow&amp;subsectionid=7806572&amp;subsectionname=croc" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white;">.&nbsp;</span><br /><br />Finally, I'm going to be the web guest in the Chat Room after the show at 9pm, so <a href="http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/chat/629143/60-minutes-chat-room" target="_blank">come along</a> and ask some questions.<br /><br />[update] You can see the story online now <a href="http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8498686" target="_blank">here</a>. It's a shame they didn't spend more time on the actual research project and why we were diving, but overall I think they did a pretty decent job.http://crocodilian.blogspot.com/2012/07/diving-with-nile-crocodiles.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Adam Britton)3